Indonesia's rut in front of us is still in front of us, and the national football team needs to pay attention to the referee of the battle between China and Pakistan

The reporter reported coldly The national football team's away game against Bahrain is getting closer and closer, and the preparations for all aspects of the game have also reached the most critical stage, among which the issue of the referee deserves our special attention. The referee of this game has been set as Jordanian referee Mahademai, who is a guest in West Asia, and the referee is from West Asia, plus Indonesia's "loss" in Bahrain on the last match day, the national football team must invest more preparation in the referee.

During the October international break, Indonesia played away to Bahrain when Omani referee Al Kaf added four extra minutes after the required stoppage time, and Bahrain scored the equaliser in "excess stoppage time", which sparked an outcry in Indonesia. The Indonesian Football Association immediately complained to the AFC and FIFA, and the general manager and players of the Indonesian team also had a fierce dispute with the referee. In the end, the Indonesian team was banned for 1 game and 4 games respectively for fans throwing debris into the stadium, and the team's general manager Sumaji and match analyst were banned for 1 and 4 games respectively, and each fined 5,000 Swiss francs (about 41,000 yuan). The Indonesian team suffered heavy losses on and off the field, but fortunately coach Shin Tai Long and his players were not affected by the punishment.

Now the Bahrain team plays at home against the national football team, and it is still the referee of West Asian and Arab countries. The referee team is led by 37-year-old Jordanian referee Mahademah, and the VAR referee team is from Qatar. Shandong Taishan fans must be deeply impressed by the Jordanian referee, who was the Jordanian referee who defeated the Yokohama Mariners 1-2 in the first leg of the 2023/24 AFC Champions League 1/4 finals on March 7 this year. His decision was controversial throughout the game, causing strong dissatisfaction among Shandong Taishan coaches, players and fans.

In Taishan's AFC Champions League game, in the 14th minute, Shandong Taishan Brazilian striker Pato was knocked down from behind by Yokohama Mariner Brazilian central defender Eduardo in the penalty area, and the Jordanian referee did not say anything. In the 21st minute, Lee Yuanyi's pass was cleared by Yokohama Mariners when Asahi Uechu was defending Pato with his arm, and the Jordanian referee refused to award a penalty, and after the strong protest of Shandong Taishan players, Mahademah still refused to award a penalty after communicating with the Singapore VAR referee. In the 4th minute of stoppage time, the Taishan team got a throw-in opportunity, and coach Choi Kang-hee quickly handed the ball to the player, but was interfered by Yokohama Mariners captain Takuya Kida, causing a large-scale clash between the two teams. In the end, Taishan assistant coach Wen Huyi and Yokohama Mariners assistant coach Hutchinson were sent off with a red card, and Choi Kang-hee also received a yellow card for protesting the referee's decision.

It can be seen that Mahad is by no means a "destined person" of Chinese football. In addition, in the Asian Cup final in February, the Chinese referee Ma Ning awarded Qatar three penalties, and the Jordanian team, which finally reached the final, failed to win the championship. From the perspective of interest neutrality, Jordanian referees will not be the "good people" of Chinese football.

The AFC consists of four regions: East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia, which can fully meet the requirements of the referees of neutral regions outside the regions where the two sides of the game are located. However, in recent years, due to the strength of West Asian football in the AFC, this tacit understanding of avoidance has in fact been completely ignored.

In the continental arena, there is no small matter when it comes to refereeing. There is no such thing as absolute fairness, but participating countries also have their own rights to demand relative fairness.

In October, the Indonesian Football Association, which considered itself "a loss" in Bahrain, expressed its attitude with actions. Recently, they applied to the AFC to hope that the match against Saudi Arabia on November 19 will not be administered by referees from Western Asian Arab countries, but it is still unknown whether the Indonesians will get their wish.

Because the AFC does not have a clear provision to determine the principle of circumvention of referees between Arab countries, the first four rounds of the round of 18 are played by the Arab national teams of West Asia and other regional national teams, Australia 0-1 Bahrain in the first round, Saudi Arabia 1-1 Indonesia; In the second round, the UAE 1-1 North Korea and Qatar 2-2 Indonesia were all referees from Western Asian Arab countries. Coincidentally, the West Asian Arab teams are unbeaten in these 4 matches. Among them, Jordanian referee Mahademah officiated the match between Saudi Arabia 1-1 Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates 1-1 North Korea, and the two West Asian Arab national teams were undefeated.

Returning to Bahrain and the referee of the national football team, Mahademai, this gentleman has previously officiated two national football matches, and the national football team has never won. They were 0-0 Iran at home in the round of 12 in September 2016, and 1-1 Australia at home in November 2021. In turn, the West Asian Arab national team officiated by Mahademai has played a total of 12 matches against other regional national teams, and the West Asian Arab national team has lost only one, that is, South Korea 1-0 Syria at home in the round of 12 in March 2017.

There is a recent experience of the Indonesian team's visit to Bahrain in October, and the history of the national football team encountering controversial penalties in the enforcement matches of referees from Western Asian and Arab countries on many occasions. This time as a guest in Bahrain, the national football team must be fully psychologically prepared. On the one hand, it is necessary to bear the possible off-field disadvantages of away games, as well as the pressure brought by the away team's fans in the stadium; On the other hand, it is necessary to do a good job in the referee's decision, which may be more harsh on the preparation of the national football team. In addition to not giving the referee the opportunity to award a penalty as much as possible, it is also necessary to control the defensive action as much as possible and reduce the possibility of receiving a yellow card or even a red card as much as possible. At the same time, in the face of possible fouls and provocations by Bahraini players, it is also necessary to try to stay calm and avoid unnecessary losses due to unnecessary impulsiveness.